Hilton Worldwide vice president development Middle East & North Africa Carlos Khneisser has revealed the Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton pipeline in the MENA region is set to triple in the next two to three years.
Khneisser told Hotelier Middle East: "There is great momentum for our mid-scale brands with Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton. Look at Dubai: we opened three new Hilton Garden Inns and on the back of that, we’re going to triple our pipeline for Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton by Hilton in the next 2-3 years."
He continued: "We’ve been saying since quite some time that there is a gap in the market for mid-scale brands. The type of traction that those brands are getting in the market... the guest flow is phenomenal. And we are going to continue growing."
Khneisser said that the potential for such focused service brands in the UAE exists in areas such as Dubai South, Deira, Downtown, Sheikh Zayed Road, and Business Bay.
He pointed out that such brands offer a "great formula for investors" because of the time it takes to build the hotel and quick ROI period.
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Hilton Worldwide also signed its second Hilton Garden Inn in Qatar recently, as well as in Oman, the latter of which has started construction work. In Saudi Arabia, the company is developing both the brands in major cities and in secondary cities.
In North Africa, Hilton Garden Inn has launched the Hilton Garden Inn Tangiers City Centre, which will be a dual-branded property with a Hilton hotel.
Egypt is also picking up. "We see a great momentum for mid-scale in Egypt as well, which is a bit surprising, because Egypt is mostly focused as a market on just core brands – they love Hilton. Now we started introducing a different segment, Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree by Hilton. And investors and owners have started seeing the value."
Read the full interview in a future issue of Hotelier Middle East.
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